Exploring the Crossroads of Art, Craft, Reading, and Creative Writing with Alisa Golden

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Little Free Library

A block from my house, in a direction I rarely walk, an object on the lawn surprised me.

It's a neighborhood library.

The pink paper tells how it works.

You can bring a book and take a book.

The best line: "Give books. Leave notes in them."

Two years ago, in Wisconsin, Todd Bol built a little library to look like a little red schoolhouse to honor the memory of his mother, a librarian. After his neighbors admired it (and patted and hugged it) he wondered if other people might like to have their own. Bol contacted his friend Rick Brooks at the University of Wisconsin, and together they created this project promoting community, literacy, and the love of reading. You can read the complete story here.

Their goal is to promote the installation of 2,510 libraries, which would be more libraries than Andrew Carnegie endowed. Want to become a "steward?" Want one on your lawn? Create your own design, download plans from their website, or purchase one at LittleFreeLibrary.org. It takes approximately 4-6 weeks to receive a little shed. If you would like to dedicate your library to someone you can purchase a custom sign for $60. Sheds cost $250-400. You can order: a kit; a shed made from two cranberry crates; a shed made from recycled material; a cabin or shed made by Amish carpenters; and even a "little red British phone booth," if you desire ($600 for that one).

According to the article, prison inmates are learning woodworking in Prairie du Chien, WI as part of vocational training and they are building libraries; little sheds are being built in New Orleans from materials leftover from Hurricane Katrina. You can see a map of Little Free Library locations and pictures on the website as well as reading the blog. In addition to those in the United States, there are little libraries in the Congo, Ghana, Haiti, England, Germany, Italy, and Canada. Some people dedicate them: in Oakland, CA, the Cody family built one in memory of Pat & Fred Cody of Cody's Books; one in Sonoma, CA was built to honor Maurice Sendak. (We definitely need one in memory of Ray Bradbury.)

You can see many of the little libraries when you click on their icons on the map. I discovered that there was a second library within walking distance of my house, albeit up Marin Avenue, the steepest street in Berkeley. This library had a Moleskine log book and a pen for you to write who you are and what you are taking. Several pages were filled with names of good books and glowing comments.

The printed book can coexist with electronic communication, each serving a unique function, yet interdependent. This is another fascinating example of how the internet can be essential to a maker's good cause: to promote international community through reading. One man's personal project and memorial to his mother is an inspiration for many.

I can't remember when I first saw/read about this project (online of course) - but I was struck by just how perfect the idea and execution seemed - how lovely to see it bearing fruit (or rather....books) - and how right to state that one technology does not replace another....but can exist independently, interdependently, and symbiotically (but hopefully not parasitically!)

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About Me

Alisa Golden is the author of Making Handmade Books: 100+ Bindings, Structures & Forms (Lark Crafts, 2011), and Painted Paper: Techniques & Projects for Handmade Books & Cards (Lark Books, 2008), among others. She makes books under the imprint never mind the press and teaches bookmaking and letterpress printing at California College of the Arts. She holds a BFA in printmaking from California College of Arts and Crafts (now CCA), and an MFA in creative writing from San Francisco State University. Her stories, poems, and art have been published widely, and she founded and edits the online and print magazine, Star 82 Review.

Golden is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Earned fees are recycled back into books reviewed for blog posts.